I designed the SWAT No-Huddle offense to solve a specific problem – coaching in Football Poverty, a level of bare-minimum resources that has to be experienced to be believed. The SWAT No-Huddle System is a solution for poor teams to beat rich teams. One of our annual problems has been limited coaching staff. Very few people will work for free. I have had to be a quadruple coordinator ...

Note: Here’s why my plays are hand-drawn. Over half of my 40-year unpaid football coaching career happened pre-Internet. My entire 40-year coaching career was in a level of Football Poverty that has to be experienced to be believed. I used a pen and paper to draw plays for three reasons: it saved time, got the job done, and it was affordable. My SWAT No-Huddle has no conventional playbook. I ...

One of the biggest mistakes you can make as head coach is to give a coordinator full control over system, play-calling, and roster selection. In my world of Football Poverty, every decision makes or breaks my team. Relinquishing full control to a coordinator means you now have a boss. It means you now work for the coordinator. It means you answer to the coordinator. You reversed roles with ...

This video shows how to beat the hell out of Goliath. The only way to beat Goliath is to go deep – dual meaning. https://www.instagram.com/p/BpBxvcOlw7I/?utm_source=ig_twitter_share&igshid=88n85q8wh2dj #MUCHLOVE #soulofalifter Blessings + all good things #peace Gino Arcaro

I have told my football players that pro football has minimal relevance to what we do in the depths of amateur Football Poverty. Here’s one example: Superstars missing all of training camp and pre-season but expect to be plunked into the starting lineup with zero reps. Rich coaches have the luxury of inserting rich players into Game 1 lineup regardless of quantity and quality of reps invested ...

The biggest difference between Rich Coaching and Poor Coaching is ‘Fit in’ – dual meaning. First, the extent that rookies are ‘fit in’ mind, body, and soul. Second, how to get rookies to ‘fit in’ a team. The recent NFL Draft is a perfect example of how coaching is not created equal. Coaching in Football Poverty and coaching in Football Wealth are two different jobs. Poor Coaches don’t have a ...

A 15 year old rookie has never lifted a weight in his life. Start teaching him from scratch so you don’t lose him, so he doesn’t lose his life, and your team doesn’t lose week after week. A 16 year old has never played any contact sports. Never hit and never been hit. Never tackled anyone. Never been tackled. Start teaching him from scratch so you don’t lose him, so he doesn’t lose his life, ...

A turning point in my coaching mindset happened in 1997 when a Division 1 university coach attended our practice to recruit 3 players. He said, “I can’t do what you do.” That statement made more of an impact that anything I have ever heard from a university coach at any of the hundreds of clinics I’ve attended in 40 years. Coaching football is not created equal. NFL coaches and NCAA ...

The best learning experience that taught me how to defend a Warp-speed no huddle was by coaching a warp-speed no huddle. In 1991, I had two unpaid coaching jobs annually – high school head coach in the fall and defensive coordinator of an AAU-style 22-under summer team. The 1991 high school job was a turning point of my offensive philosophy. I floored it on offense. I gradually sped up my ...

I had an assistant coach in 1997 who told our players after a practice that, “STATS DON’T MATTER!!! STOP LOOKING AT YOUR STATS! IT’S SELFISH!!!” I had to correct him in private because what he said violated my coaching philosophy, ideology, and beliefs, as well as our team policy that I had taught him and every assistant I’ve ever worked with. He was wrong on two counts. Stats do count. They ...

In 1991, studying film of an upcoming opponent made the biggest impact on my Defensive Coordinator career. Our upcoming opponent used a true run-and-shoot system. I was defensive coordinator of a summer post-secondary 22-under AAU-style team in addition to my high school head coach fall position. Film study of our opponent showed them chewing up a defense for 606 passing yards in a 58-0 ...

No play is more important than the kickoff – every kickoff, regardless of situation or score. We expect to kickoff a minimum of six times per game. Minimum. Anything less than six kickoffs per game is a failure. The kickoff is the most under-coached play in football. In 40 seasons, I have interviewed hundreds of applicants for assistant coach jobs. Not one has applied for special teams ...

Ron McLean Article

MACLEAN IN ST. CATHARINES: DIONNE’S GREAT ASSIST BY RON MACLEAN ON DEC 14 2014 My highlight of last week’s visit to Sudbury, ...